Archive | April, 2015

Cagayan de Oro City — Rene Liboon Principe Jr. and his family almost drowned to death when Tropical Storm Sendong inundated Northern Mindanao in the evening of December 16, 2011.

Rene’s family, a beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilya, is among the thousand families here and in Iligan City who were affected by the flash flood brought about by the torrential rains during the onslaught of Sendong.

His father, Rene Sr., woke them up when the water was knee high inside their house in Zone 4, Pasil, Kauswagan here. The water reached the roof gutter level. Rene and his family witnessed the flood water rushing down the Kauswagan area, a barangay along Cagayan de Oro River.

Rene heard adults and children crying for help as they were being carried away by the ravaged waters.

The flood destroyed the house of Rene’s family. It leaved knee deep of muds.

They hurriedly went to an evacuation established by DSWD, some five kilometers away from their house.

Rene recalled that life inside an evacuation center was so hard, considering the sleepless nights and long lines for food and non-food items.

Resiliency

Rene Jr. was a freshman student of Regional Science High School here when Sendong devastated Northern Mindanao, taking lives of residents living along Cagayan de Oro River here and Mandulog River in Iligan City.

Typhoon Sendong submerged personal items of Rene’s family; including his books and other supplies.

But Rene Jr. did not let the calamity get in the way of achieving his dreams. He continued to excel in his classes.

The cash grants of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and other interventions from DSWD and donations from local and international humanitarian organizations have helped Rene and his family live back to normalcy during those he described as trying times.

Focus on achieving dream

Rene Jr. , youngest among the five Principe siblings, did not stop aiming at achieving his dream in life, which is to become an Astronaut.

Impossible as it may seem, Rene said he does his best to become a spaceman.

He even said that he is willing to go to Mars and live there for the rest of his life.

Top 1 in his section and a graduate of Regional Science High School here, Rene Jr. has been a consistent honor student since his elementary formation.

Despite offered full scholarship with private universities here, Rene Jr. opted to confirm his interest to enroll at University of the Philippines-Diliman, taking up Bachelor of Science in Physics after passing the UPCAT (University of the Philippines College Admission Test).

Rene Jr. is also an academic scholar of the Department of Science and Technology.

Thank DSWD, PNoy

“I am very thankful to DSWD for helping poor families like us. I was able to comply with all the projects and bought requirements for my laboratory projects because of Pantawid Pamilya,” said Rene Jr.

“Also, I thanked President Benigno Aquino III for implementing Pantawid Pamilya through DSWD,” Rene said, adding that, “critics of the president should look at the fruits of labor of all his projects.”

“We are the living proof of the gains of the administration,” claimed Rene Jr.

Pantawid Pamilya is a government’s poverty-reduction strategy that provides cash grants to extremely poor households aimed at helping them raise educated and healthy children aged 18 years and below.

It utilizes the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme where beneficiaries receive cash grant provided that they send their children to school, get preventive health check-up, and the parents attend the monthly Family Development Session (FDS).

Rene Jr. is among the 20,381 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries who graduated this school year 2014-2015. Currently, Northern Mindanao has 271,077 active household beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya.###smu

The Department of Social Welfare and Development is set to train 172 area supervisors for the second batch, out of 331 newly-hired area supervisors within this week to prepare them for the upcoming second-round assessment of the DSWD’s Listahanan also known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) scheduled within the first semester of this year.

Listahanan or the NHTS-PR or Listahanan is an information management system that the government uses in identifying who and where the poor are and is being spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It aims to address poverty reduction through a scientific and target- focused strategy.

The newly hired Area Supervisors will be deployed in various areas in Northern Mindanao. Part of their responsibilities will be handling enumerators in the areas they will then be deployed.

For the four-day training, modules on how they will be handling various scenarios they and their teams will encounter in the field during the conduct of the household assessment will be discussed.

Mr. Manuel Borres, Assistant Regional Director for Administration stressed their crucial role as Area Supervisors for the successful implementation of the Second Round Assessment. He cited to them that they should learn by heart their roles and responsibilities in handling their assigned enumerators.

A total of 793,989 households will be targeted for assessment for the Second Round assessment.

The first Round of Assessment was conducted way back 2009 with 691,689 households assessed in which 338,749 households were identified as poor.

The training aims to equip the Area Supervisors with the necessary skills before they will be deployed in the field, in order to come up with reliable and accurate data from the households that will be assessed. They are also expected to be part of the training team in the next batches of training for Area Supervisors and enumerators which will be conducted by province in the succeeding weeks.

Cagayan de Oro City — An honor student in Gingoog City, some two hours ride from here, calls for his fellow grantees of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) to capitalize on education and health and not waste the opportunity and the cash grants provided under the program.

In a recently concluded commencement exercise of Bal-ason National High School, 15-year old Jachor Mc Collins Calvo Opaon of Barangay Hindangon, Gingoog City, stressed to both students and parents who attended the activity that, “what we are enjoying now is a gift that must be capitalized on,” adding that “ once these opportunities are put to waste, there is no way to bring the past back and it is sad to look back on the opportunities wasted and lingered on the ‘what-if’s.’

Jachor is all praises with Pantawid Pamilya, expressing gratitude to President Benigno Aquino III and to DSWD for promoting and implementing the program. He says Pantawid Pamilya has been helping him and his parents.

“The meager income of my mother, a Barangay Nutrition Scholar, and father, a farmer, is not enough to supplement all the needs of my family,” Jachor discloses, adding that, “Now, with the cash grants, we have a budget for our education.”

He also thanked his parents for pushing him to be the best that he could be and for always reminding him the importance of education to whatever dreams he has in the near future.

Academic Achiever

Jachor is among the millions of Pantawid Pamilya grantees in the country who will move on up after completing his Grade 9 studies in Bal-ason National High School in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental province.

In the recently concluded recognition ceremonies, Jachor is the top one in his class. He also received the Best in English, Best in Science, Best in Filipino, Best in MAPEH, Best in Art awards. The city government of Gingoog through Mayor Marie Guingona also recognized him as outstanding Grade 9 student in the city.

Active Student

In a generation where youth is synonymous with the social media and mobile phone applications and gaming, Jachor struggles to become effective and focus on family, education, values education, and decorum, instead.

Like his elementary years, Jachor manifested his grace and enthusiasm through his active involvement in his community and school.

He was an editorial writer participant in the Regional School Press Conference, a science quiz bee finalist, among others. He tries to balance his curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop a well-rounded character.

He once bagged third place at the Mathematics challenge, MTAP (Mathematics Teachers Association of the Philippines) contest.

Pantawid Pamilya is a government’s poverty-reduction strategy that provides cash grants to extremely poor households aimed at helping them raise educated and healthy children aged 18 years and below.

It utilizes the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme where beneficiaries receive cash grant provided that they send their children to school, get preventive health check-up, and the parents attend the monthly Family Development Session.

Jachor is one of the 8,818 household grantees of Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental of Pantawid Pamilya. Currently, Northern Mindanao has 271,077 active household beneficiaries of the program.###smu

Cagayan de Oro City — Life has not been easy for 17-year-old Edy Rose T. Tayab of Purok 17, Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon. She was born with a congenital deformity. She has no feet and left hand.

But Edy Rose did not let her disability get in the way of achieving her dreams. She wanted to excel in her class, just like her friends.

“I want to prove myself that I can do what the normal people can do,” claimed Edy Rose who disclosed that she cannot avoid to compare herself to her classmates.

Having no feet, Edy Rose can still manage to walk using her underdeveloped lower limbs without crutches daily.

Her residence is approximately three kilometers away from Apayao National High School, a challenge she has to face just to finish her secondary formation.

“Usahay makamahay ( I feel resentful at times),” she said, especially when some or her classmates or even adults would taunt her, saying, “Nganong ing-ana man imong nilaktan? Mohilom nalang ko. Pero sa akong galamhan gisakitan nako, (Why are you walking like that? I just keep silent. But deep inside I am hurt).”

A dream come true

Edy Rose, who placed top nine at Apyao National High School of Quezon town, this year started focusing on her studies even while in her elementary years. She is a consistent honor pupil.

“I enjoy studying,” Edy Rose said, adding that it was during in her elementary years that she noticed she loves Mathematics.

“It feel like I’m just playing games when it comes to Mathematics,” said Edy Rose. She added she wants to answer Mathematical challenges.

Finishing at the ninth place is a dream-come-true for Edy Rose, who plans to take business and accountancy related courses in college.

Thankful to DSWD, PNoy

Edy Rose, monitored by Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (Pantawid Pamilya) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), expresses her heartfelt gratitude to DSWD and to President Benigno Aquino III.

Before having been enrolled in the program, Edy Rose recalled that her family could hardly send her to school. “May adlaw ko nga walay balon sauna. Karon kompleto nako og balon ug mga gamit sa eskwelahan,” she disclosed. (Before, there were days that I don’t have food to take for my meal. Now, I have food to eat and I have school supplies.)

Fellow Achiever

Edy Rose is not the only Pantawid Pamilya academic achiever in her school. Via Calibjo is the Class Valedictorian of Apyao National High School.

Calibjo also received academic awards like the Excellence in English, Excellence in Filipino, Excellence in Mathematics, and Excellence in Science.

Pantawid Pamilya is a government’s poverty-reduction strategy that provides cash grants to extremely poor households aimed at helping them raise educated and healthy children aged 18 years and below.

It utilizes the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme where beneficiaries receive cash grant provided that they send their children to school, get preventive health check-up, and the parents attend the monthly Family Development Session (FDS).

Edy Rose and Via are among the more than 20,381 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries who will graduate this school year 2014-2015. Currently, Northern Mindanao has 271,077 active household beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya.

Cagayan de Oro City — Male workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Northern Mindanao support the campaign for the elimination of violence against women and other sectors of society.

The workers, who are members of Men Opposed to Violence against women and other sectors Everywhere (MOVE) has dramatized its support through a motorcade in major thoroughfares here recently.

MOVE DSWD Field Office 10 chapter president, Rogelio Jabla, said MOVE members aim to pursue its commitment in recognizing their role as protectors of women and other sectors.

Organized in 2007, MOVE has been taking initiatives to support implementation of the Republic Act 9262 or the act defining violence against women and their children.

The law defines violence against women and their children as any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

“As members of the MOVE, we are condemning any acts of violence against women and other sectors of our society,” said Jabla.

After the motorcade, the lecture on RA 9262 was done at DSWD Field Office 10.

The activity is one of the highlights of the women’s month celebration this year with the theme, “Juana, Desisyon Mo ay Mahalaga sa Kinabukasan ng Bawat Isa, Ikaw Na.”### smu

Cagayan de Oro – 82 community projects will rise in Northern Mindanao this year after the Department of Social Welfare and Development has approved the project proposals of 30 municipalities and five cities which are under the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) modality under the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

Projects like day care centers, crisis centers, multi-purpose halls, common service facilities, protective services centers, evacuation centers, Indigenous Peoples (IP) centers, offices for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), are some of the common infrastructures that have been approved by the DSWD with a total amount cost of more than P109.32 Million.

The Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the flagship anti-poverty programs of the national government which empowers communities to participate in local development initiatives by letting them identify challenges in their communities that contribute to poverty, and by enabling them to make informed decisions to resolve these challenges through community volunteerism.

Lanao del Norte – The Department of Social Welfare and Development has paid Social Pension amounting to more than P2.59 Million as Social Pension for 1,729 indigent senior citizens here today, March 26, 2015.

The Social Pension Program is the national government’s response to help augment the daily needs of indigent senior citizens such as medicine and food, based on Republic Act 9994 otherwise known as the “the Expanded Senior Citizens Act.”

Qualified beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program, which provides a subsidy of P500.00 per month, are those aged 65 years old and above and are considered as poor under the database of Listahanan, a system run by the DSWD that generates a list of who and where the poor are in the country.

The beneficiaries are also those that are not receiving any other social insurances such as GSIS, SSS, and the like.

The DSWD is currently lobbying with lawmakers to extend the age coverage of the program, including the amount to be given to the indigent senior citizens to cope with the inflation status of the country. DSWD however emphasizes that this will depend upon the approval of the legislative body on the agency’s proposed budget, and the availability of government resources.